{"id":477526,"date":"2026-02-19T09:03:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-19T09:03:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/477526\/"},"modified":"2026-02-19T09:03:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T09:03:08","slug":"bernie-sanders-rails-against-billionaire-greed-amid-california-tax-battle-bernie-sanders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/477526\/","title":{"rendered":"Bernie Sanders rails against billionaire \u2018greed\u2019 amid California tax battle | Bernie Sanders"},"content":{"rendered":"

Billionaires are \u201ctreading on very, very thin ice,\u201d Bernie Sanders warned on Wednesday during a fiery speech in Los Angeles, imploring California voters to fight \u201cgrotesque\u201d levels of economic inequality by approving a proposed tax<\/a> on the state\u2019s richest residents.<\/p>\n

The Vermont senator railed against the \u201cgreed\u201d, \u201carrogance\u201d and \u201cmoral turpitude\u201d of the nation\u2019s \u201cruling class\u201d, calling it \u201cfairly disgusting\u201d that some ultra-wealthy tech leaders have fled California \u2013 or are threatening to do so<\/a>, if the proposed wealth tax becomes law.<\/p>\n

\u201cNever before have so few people had so much wealth and so much power,\u201d Sanders thundered on stage at the Wiltern theater, where a raucous crowd of longtime supporters shouted \u201cshame\u201d.<\/p>\n

Though the 84-year-old two-time presidential candidate has railed against the billionaire class for decades, his remarks on Wednesday were an exceptionally scathing \u2013 and at times personal \u2013 indictment of the top 1%. Comparing America\u2019s highest earners to the oligarchs and monarchs of past centuries, he said the US billionaire elite \u201cno longer sees itself as a part of American society\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese guys literally believe that they have the divine right to rule and are no longer subject to democratic governance,\u201d Sanders told a rapt audience.<\/p>\n

Sanders framed the wealth tax on billionaires in California<\/a>, led by the Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West (SEIU-UHW), as a referendum on American \u201coligarchy\u201d itself.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese billionaires are going to learn that we are still living in a democratic society where the people have some power,\u201d Sanders said.<\/p>\n

Under the proposal, which has rattled wealthy Californians and split Democrats, residents worth more than $1bn would have to pay a one-time 5% tax on their assets to offset looming federal cuts to health care and support public education and state food assistance programs. California is home to more billionaires than any other state, and analysts say the tax would apply to about 200 residents.<\/p>\n

Taking the stage before Sanders, Suzanne Jimenez, chief of staff at SEIU-UHW, said the proposal would ensure billionaires \u201cpay their fair share\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we don\u2019t act, our friends and our family will have to drive twice as far \u2013 will have to wait twice as long \u2013 for the life-saving care that they\u2019re going to need,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd for what? So that billionaires can own another yacht?\u201d<\/p>\n

Outside the event, organizers collected signatures to put the California Billionaire Tax Act on the ballot in November. The union must gather nearly 875,000 valid signatures to qualify. If they are successful, it would still need to win approval from a majority of California voters.<\/p>\n

Even in deep-blue California, the politics are complicated<\/a>. Opponents, including the state\u2019s Democratic governor, Gavin Newsom, argue the tax would erode the state\u2019s long-term tax base and put California \u2013 which boasts the world\u2019s fourth largest economy \u2013 at a competitive disadvantage against other US states.<\/p>\n

The tax proposal is already facing deep-pocketed opposition from business leaders and tech titans. Google co-founder Sergey Brin and other billionaires are bankrolling<\/a> a new political group that is backing a series of competing ballot initiatives that would nullify the union-backed proposal. Brin, one of the world\u2019s wealthiest people, is among the recent Silicon Valley magnates to cut ties<\/a> with the state where he made his fortune.<\/p>\n

The proposal\u2019s retroactive structure \u2013 taxing wealth accumulated in 2025 \u2013 is designed to deter billionaires from fleeing the state before it takes effect, its authors have said, while proponents and critics alike anticipate legal challenges if the tax is adopted.<\/p>\n

A nonpartisan analysis from the California Legislative Analyst\u2019s Office <\/a>estimates that the one-time billionaire tax would \u201cprobably\u201d generate tens of billions of dollars for the state. But it cautioned that there was a significant degree of uncertainty if, for example, wealthy Californians departed the state, resulting in hundreds of millions of dollars of losses in state income tax revenues annually. It also notes the complexity and cost of implementation, as valuing complex, non-cash assets such as art, private business, and intellectual property is tricky and time-consuming.<\/p>\n

A January poll<\/a> found that 48% of likely voters support the initiative, while 38% are opposed and 14% remain undecided, underscoring both its appeal and its political risk.<\/p>\n

At the Wiltern on Wednesday evening, attendees posed in front of signs that read \u201cBillionaire Tax Now\u201d while the crowd chanted \u201cTax the billionaires\u201d.<\/p>\n

Among the crowd was Morgan, a 29-year-old progressive and longtime supporter of Sanders who declined to give her last name. She hopes his influence can counter the well-financed opposition to the wealth tax. \u201cTheir money can do a lot more and go a lot further than ours,\u201d she said of the state\u2019s richest residents.<\/p>\n

Chelsea Gods, a content creator and political activist, drove two-and-a-half hours from San Diego to attend the event. \u201cAmericans are poor. We are strapped for cash. We are struggling and we are tired,\u201d she said. \u201cPeople First-policies are the only way to win a political future for people on the left.\u201d<\/p>\n

California is familiar terrain for Sanders, who won the state on Super Tuesday during the 2020 Democratic presidential primary.<\/p>\n

In his remarks, the populist senator said he didn\u2019t know whether the uber-rich would follow through on their threats to leave California, noting that wealthy New Yorkers had also warned they would flee if democratic socialist, Zohran Mamdani, was elected mayor of the city. They do not appear to have done so<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Sanders also named names and listed assets, drawing boos and jeers as he listed Larry Ellison\u2019s jets and Mark Zuckerberg\u2019s yachts and his Palo Alto compound.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor these people enough is never enough,\u201d he said. \u201cThey are dedicated to accumulating more and more wealth and power and they do that no matter what harm they bring to working families.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sanders said Minnesotans opposed to Trump\u2019s federal immigration crackdown showed Americans how to resist authoritarianism. Approving a wealth tax on billionaires, he said, would send a \u201cclear and profound message\u201d that \u201cenough is enough\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe billionaire class cannot have it all. This nation belongs to all of us,\u201d Sanders said, before concluding his remarks: \u201cNow the ball is in California\u2019s court.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Billionaires are \u201ctreading on very, very thin ice,\u201d Bernie Sanders warned on Wednesday during a fiery speech in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":477527,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[23,3,21,19,22,20,25,24],"class_list":{"0":"post-477526","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-united-states","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-united-states","11":"tag-united-states-of-america","12":"tag-unitedstates","13":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","14":"tag-us","15":"tag-usa"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/477526","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=477526"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/477526\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/477527"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=477526"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=477526"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=477526"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}